


One Hundred and Fifty Swords

by BoPeepWithNoSheep



Series: Magnulia Fics [1]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast), The Adventure Zone: Balance (Podcast)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Established Relationship, F/M, Julia's backstory, One-Sided Attraction, Pre-Canon, Taz writers discord, half-orc!julia, raven's roost rebellion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-06
Updated: 2018-11-06
Packaged: 2019-08-19 14:29:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16536365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BoPeepWithNoSheep/pseuds/BoPeepWithNoSheep
Summary: Julia Waxman has a higher bride-price than any man can pay.





	One Hundred and Fifty Swords

Julia Waxman is the greatest weaponsmith in Raven's Roost, which is suitably impressive in a town known for it's craftspeople. It is declared proudly on the door over her forge, it isn't really bragging when it's true and it _has_ been true since Julia finished her apprenticeship at fifteen.

It helps her support Dad, he’s not sick but he’s never been the same since her Pops died in the war. Every time she coaxes him out of another bout of sorrow or catches him waiting for Pops to walk through a door he'll never enter she bites her lip and holds her tongue. Instead of yelling, she keeps softly telling him he needs to take on an apprentice of his own at the carpentry shop to split the work but her father is a stickler for his trade never finds anyone he likes. None of them have the heart for it, he says. 

When Julia turns seventeen Kalen Kathal arrives in town and takes the whole place by storm, a hero from the relic wars. His reputation as an astute and clever commander is impressive in a town of artisans and craftsmen. She's one of the few people in town who even knows how to swing a sword competently and these days she really only uses the skills Pops taught her to test for balance.

He endears himself to the city by revitalizing the militia. New barracks, new armor, new weapons and training by someone with real fighting experience for the first time since her Pops passed. One day he comes to her shop with a sly grin and a heavy coin purse and pays her a pretty penny to reforge all the old swords in storage.

He jokes that it would make a good bride-price for someone like her, one hundred and fifty swords. He repeats it every time he visits her forge, sometimes for actual militia work and sometimes for petty excuses like sharpening one of the man swords from his illustrious collection. Each was acquired from a defeated foe, he informs her proudly. He brings her so many swords so often that Julia loses count. It echoes in her mind, every time she stares down and wonders the story behind the latest blade.

Julia Waxman, greatest weaponsmith in Raven's Roost, she is worth one hundred and fifty swords.

When Julia is eighteen Kalen Kathal strides into her shop, one her swords glinting brightly on his hip and asks for her hand. His interest in her is--well it's flattering because in a town full of elves and humans she's not exactly considered beautiful enough to garner the attention of someone handsome, powerful, and _human_  as Kalen but there's also _something_ that rubs her wrong about it.

She refuses politely because she's too young to be married and he hasn't asked her dad. Which isn't to say that Julia needs her father's permission to do anything, but Kalen Kathal has never said a single word to her gentle dad and she's almost certain Kalen doesn't even know that he took her Pops' job. Kalen smiles, takes the refusal with a laugh and tells her she won't be young forever and they both have time. She refuses the next dozen times he asks, each time a little less politely and with each rejection, Kalen's smiles become a little sharper.

Three years later, her dad finally takes on an apprentice. He's nearly as tall as she is--which is impressive given that Pops was an Orc and left Julia favoring his stature instead of Dad's. He's also one of the best carpenters she's ever seen, barring her Dad of course. He says he learned from his own grandfather, it endears him to Dad almost instantly and he practically adopts the young man.

It's good for him, Julia thinks, she's spending more time in the forge since Kalen's been making more requisitions. Kalen says there have been bandits and marauders stumbling across the countryside, raiding towns and he needs them to be prepared. Julia smiles and takes his coin again, and she smiles when she refuses his proposal again.

No bandits come but when Julia is twenty-four Kalen Kathal names himself governor, he murders half the town as dissidents--A man, her father’s beautiful forgetful apprentice, presents her with an army of three hundred, rallied by his charm and rebellious fervor. He's good with people but she's better with strategy and he smiles as he calls her _'My General.'_

They lay waste to Kalen's men, because once he betrays the town his once loyal militia run to her side. They call her General Waxman before the final battle and that night Magnus holds her when she cries--Pops had been a General once and it had killed him. Julia doesn't want to die but Gods be damned she will not live under the tyranny of Governor Kalen Kathal and his weapons built by her hands.

They don't kill him, because before Magnus can swing his ax down she holds up a hand, somewhere in there must be the smiling man who had brought such joy and safety to her town. She doesn't know yet how much she'll regret this act of decision. She's still young and mercy is a tenant her Dad holds dear and something she wishes so desperately had been given to her Pops. They tell him to leave and never return because mercy will not be given twice.

It’s only later, after she and Magnus are wed that it occurs to Julia that her Lieutenant paid double the bride-price that Kalen Kathal had once promised her. 


End file.
